Sr. X pop art flavours, his throwbacks, his slices of Americana are popular around here at Organ, back in September 2016, we said, “Sr. X is a now London-based Spanish artist, his work is a… well I want to say vibrant but that word is way too overused… Sr.X‘s show at Dalson’s BSMTspace is a vibrant fusion of painterly pop culture, classic 50’S film imagery, publicity posters, 60’s advertising copy, nostalgia, urban legends, pop art “which he normally gives expression to through stencils, paste-ups or installations. His creations are often wrapped in a distinct tone of irony and social criticism, frequently shrouded by a veil of sharp humour”.  that full review from last year can be read here, we mention this today because this rather good-looking show flyer just passed by and you have to admit, it seems right that he should be hitting the Big Apple    

Fat Free Art is “a Street art friendly space on the corner of Allen & Delancey in the heart of the Lower East Side of New York City.  Created to mimic the gritty streets of NYC, it will NOT feature traditional white gallery walls. NOT linen white, off-white, bright white, historic white, egg white or Snow White…  But WILL SHOWCASE ART on surfaces made of brick, cement, wood, plexi & metal.  950 square feet of 12 foot EXTERIOR walls INSIDE. The same outdoor canvases that street artists have been tagging since the beginning of time”.

Sr.X – “That feeling” – Mixed media on wood. 122 x 62cm

Some more of what we said back in 2016…..

“This is a striking show, an instantly enjoyable show. As a rule stencil art does not excite, it mostly makes for very lazy under-achieving very clichéd street art clutter, art generally made by people who can’t paint and possess little imagination or desire to challenge themselves or there potential audience, people just following rules and making art that conforms and looks like all the other stencil art made by all the other people following the same rules, the nu-metal syndrome again (that or people who are all about “clever” technique and have very little content…  .) 

Sr.X avoids all the traps, in the same way that Agata Cordoso uses her camera to paint so gloriously, Sr X uses stencils to really really craft his bold stylised work, well on the evidence of tonight he does, outside on a grander scale his art seems rushed and nowhere near as exciting as it does in here with these relatively smaller made-for-the-gallery well worked pieces.  Beautiful use of colour, a touch that is delicious, his detail alive, his canvases full of brilliant contradiction, areas to focus in on, a cynical smile, a background featuring some half-hidden advertising slogan that you didn’t notice at first, a strap line, a noir stroke, a pop twist or two, a glimpses of Bob and a taste of discordia, Church of Subgenus, a comic book flow, 1950’s hope, Stan Lee,  balance, sharp smiles, perfect teeth, “bullshit” for sale all warped and wrapped up in nostalgia, warped nostalgia indeed, gloriously so, not quite too sickly sweet.    A damn fine show an an evening saved by the last gallery of the first Thursday of September 2016.” (sw)

A bag of fractured photos from that night last year over at BSMT Space, click on an image to enlarge or you run the slide show….